NY child sex victims barred from suing about to get 1-year reprieve

Posted Aug 6, 2019

AP

New York lawmakers, advocates and victims of child sexual abuse rally for the Child Victims Act at the state Capitol in Albany, N.Y., on Monday, Jan. 28, 2019. The law extends the statute of limitations to give victims more time to seek justice. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

Victims of child sexual abuse will have a new chance to seek justice next week when New York temporarily lifts its statute of limitations on sexual crimes against children.

Under a new law, a one-year window will open Aug. 14 in which victims can file civil lawsuits against their abusers or the institutions that enabled them.

The lawsuits can be filed through Aug. 14, 2020, regardless of how much time has passed since the abuse occurred.

“Whether the abuse ended yesterday or 90 years ago, the new law gives child sexual abuse survivors the opportunity to come forward and seek justice against their abusers and any institutions who covered up their crimes,” said Jeffrey Dion, CEO of the Zero Abuse Project, a national advocacy group.

The group expects hundreds of lawsuits to be filed across New York over the next year from people who were abused as children but were prevented from suing because the statute of limitations had expired. The law defines children as those under the age of 18 when the abuse occurred.

Law firms nationwide have begun advertising in New York state for clients who want to sue their abusers.

Until the Child Victims Act was signed into law, New Yorkers had to file criminal or civil charges against their abusers by the age of 23. Now the law will allow victims to file felony charges against their abusers until the age of 28, or civil lawsuits against abusers and institutions until age 55.

The Democratic-controlled state Senate passed the bill in a unanimous vote in January, after it had been held up by the chamber for more than a decade. Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the bill into law in February.

Over the years, the bill had been opposed by groups that included the Roman Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America.

The Catholic Church, through the New York Catholic Conference, ended its opposition after state lawmakers agreed that the law would cover victims of public institutions, as well as private organizations such as the church.

The Catholic Church also set up a victim’s compensation fund with arbitration to avoid costly legal battles.

Before the law became effective, 1,106 New Yorkers victims of clergy abuse had accepted settlement offers from the compensation fund, giving up their right to sue the Catholic Church.

Only four survivors rejected the church’s offers statewide, including Kevin Braney, who was abused in the Syracuse diocese and rejected a $300,000 settlement offer last year. Braney was among the first to sue under the new age limits.

To help Central New Yorkers understand the new law, a coalition of advocates plans to host a free public seminar from 3:30 to 5 p.m. today at the McMahon Ryan Child Advocacy Center, 601 E. Genesee St., Syracuse.

The nonprofit Zero Abuse Project will host the event with Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli, D-Syracuse. Child welfare advocates, clinicians, and sexual abuse prevention experts will be available to talk about the new law. Those who want to attend are asked to RSVP to the Zero Abuse Project.

Among those expected to speak at the event is Bridie Farrell, co-founder of the group New York Loves Kids. The Saratoga Springs native was sexually abused as a member of the U.S. Olympic speedskating team in the 1990s, starting when she was 15.

Syracuse will be the fourth in a series of at least a dozen town halls and seminars that the Zero Abuse Project plans to hold across the state to inform sexual abuse victims of their rights.

State Sen. Brad Hoylman, who authored the bill, said in a New York Daily News op-ed Monday that lawsuits filed over the next year will likely help identify “hidden predators.”

He said more than 300 sexual abusers were identified through lawsuits when California passed a similar law in 2003.